Application of agricultural chemicals to turf grass with conventional spray nozzles and existing equipment over ground having slopes and undulations can cause uneven spray distribution. In addition, wind can cause spray drift, where fluid sprayed from a nozzle does not reach its intended surface. This results in inefficient spraying and unevenly applied fluid, where portions of a target surface receive too much or too little fluid. For example, when applying fluid such as water, fertilizer, pesticides, etc., the target soil and/or foliage may not receive an even distribution of the applied fluid.
Nozzles have been developed to address some of these problems. For example, air inclusion nozzles create droplets of fluid mixed with air, which can reduce spray drift and improve surface coverage of the fluid. However, while these conventional nozzles perform adequately when used to spray on a flat surface they fail to provide satisfactory coverage when used to spray on surfaces and undulations, or where spray boom height keeps varying or is low to the ground. For example, striping can occur when there is uneven agrochemical distribution, such as when a nozzle is further from one surface area is higher or lower than another surface area. This typically occurs when the surface being sprayed has slopes, other differences in elevation, or is otherwise not flat, which is typical in golf courses, for example.
Thus, what is needed is a spray nozzle that can provide adequate coverage over surfaces that are sloped or otherwise are not flat and/or an improved coefficient of variation when used in plurality at varying heights on a conventional spray boom. What is further needed are methods of improving the coefficient of variation of nozzle arrays and methods for spraying surfaces that are sloped or otherwise are not flat. These and other problems exist.